The UEFA A licence course launched in February by the licensing department of the Football Federation of Armenia (HFF) entered its second phase in March.

During this stage, which involved a trip to Donetsk, Ukraine, from 6 to 13 March, the participants had the opportunity to observe and analyse training sessions at Ukrainian Premier League clubs FC Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Metalurh Donetsk.

HFF coach instructors also took part in the study as assessors. Having already gained their A licences, the instructors monitor the association's coaches throughout the year.

Meanwhile, on 10 March, the HFF's licensing committee met at the federation headquarters to decide whether to award licences to the country's Premier League teams.

Taking into account the reports and remarks of the licensing department, the committee chose to grant national licences to all applicants. However, another challenge remains for these clubs: that of satisfying the financial criteria crucial to their obtaining a UEFA licence.

The licensing department also organised two seminars: the first, held on 19 March in cooperation with the refereeing department, focused on the Laws of the Game and fair play for head coaches and captains of the top-flight sides; the second, between 22 and 24 March, concerned the maintenance of artificial turf for club and stadium representatives.

The latter event featured input from FIFA's artificial turf consultant Eric Harrison who was visiting Yerevan with the FIFA Goal Programme.